When She met Him
by LeftwithThis
Summary: And so her story begins. This one shot takes place in the human female noble's childhood when Lulia feels the burden of being a teryn's daughter overwhelming. She then meets a boy who makes her start to feel better about what's going on in her life.


The castle was dead and pitch black for as the only light was the flickering of a half burnt candlestick in her young, delicate hand. She sat in the Chantry…all alone with nothing but an open history book in her lap as she sat on the floor. The echoes of the voices she heard through the day rang in her ears telling her what to do and how to act. She was sick of it. She grabbed the book and threw it across the room, hitting a statue of the prophet Andraste in the process. She scrambled towards the now broken statue trying to piece together what she could. A distant dimmed light approached from under the crack of the door. The young girl quickly blew out her candle and hid between the seats placed for those seeking the Maker. The door opened slightly, the dimmed light brightening the once shadowed room, to reveal a boy around her age looking lost and slightly confused.

"Is anyone here?" the boy's voice called out as he entered the Chantry and spotted the broken statue.

She had never seen him before. _"Probably the son of the people visiting the castle…"_ She thought to herself as she peered over from her hiding spot to get a closer look at him. He seemed to have a small build and his eyes looked to be a light brown in color but it was still to dark to tell. He made his way over to the statue, picking up the candlestick the young girl had just used. With him distracted, the girl made her way towards the open door. She ran into a seat and tried to hold back her screams of pain. The light grew stronger as the boy looked over to her as she crouched over.

"Are you ok?" he asked walking over to her. With the light closer, she could see that he had short blonde hair and was very skinny.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied trying to stand.

He smirked. "With the crouching over in pain and fighting off of tears, you look fine to me."

She glared at him. At first look he didn't seem like a smart-elic but looks are deceiving. "I'm a good actress after all. I could be dying right now and you'd never know it."

"Is that so?" he laughed. "So what are you doing in the Chantry at this time of night?"

"I could ask you the same question. My business is my own." She crossed her arms.

He looked over at the broken statue once again, spotting the book laying at its base. "Do you have an issue with the Maker that you'd throw a book at Andraste?"

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that. I just –can't take it anymore. There's a lot to take in and they expect too much out of me."

"So you must be the teryn's daughter then; Lulia Cousland. Aren't you alittle too young to be worrying about stuff like this?" He said placing his hand on her shoulder. "But you seem to have a strong head on your shoulders. Just keep going and do the best you can do."

She was amazed at what he said. "I'm not a kid you know! I'm 8; almost 9 and how would you know? You don't look like a noble to me."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not a noble but I know enough to know what you're going through. I live in Redcliff in the castle and I listen in on some of Arl Eamon's meetings."

"Wait…does the Arl know you're here?" Lulia asked.

"He does not. Please don't tell him I'm here either. I snuck into the cargo carriage to get out of that place. I just needed some time away from Lady Isolde." He walked towards the door.

"Sounds like you have problems too…don't worry I won't say anything to him about you being here as long as you don't tell anyone I broke that statue." She giggled.

He held his hand out. "That sounds like a fair deal m'lady. Let's shake on it."

She smiled. "Please just call me Lulia. M'lady is too formal to me." She grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Alright Lulia. We should get you to bed." He said with a friendly smile.

Lulia blushed slightly. She followed him out of the Chantry and towards the main hall. He turned around to her looking embarrassed.

"Where is your room?" he asked.

She blinked. "You're not really good at thinking things through are you?" she asked walking down the hallway. "You don't need to do this anyways. You could get caught."

"I'm not much of a planner. I just make witty remarks and one-liners but you make a good point Lulia. Maybe it would be better if we parted ways for now."

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked.

"Oh, but of course. Let's promise to meet again someday and when we do, we can get married." He laughed.

She giggled and blushed slightly. "I promise to meet you again but if you wanna marry me, you're gonna have to earn it." She said holding up her pinky.

He laughed. "Then it's a promise. We'll meet again and I'll make you fall in love with me and marry you." He replied connecting his pinky to hers.

They smiled at each other as they pinky promised. Lulia took a few steps towards her bedroom as the boy headed the opposite way. She took a few steps then stopped. "Hey!" she screamed to him. "You never told me your name."

He turned around and laughed. "It's Alistair."


End file.
